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630m Early Morning Skeds
13 September 2016 | by 
This past week I was eventually able to mate my W1VD frequency doubler with my 630m FET amplifier and run some higher powered tests on 630m WSPR and JT9 modes.
Up until this time, I have been limited to about 1/2 W EIRP but using the amplifier allows me to get to the 5W EIRP limit. I have been using the VK4YB transverter's 475kHz reduced output of 1W and driving the doubler previously built as part of a transverter project. The doubler produces a nice 950kHz squarewave to drive my amplifier's divide-by-two flip-flop input circuit which in turn produces the dual antiphase outputs needed to drive the push-pull switching FETs in the final amplifier. Being a linear transverter, when used alone at 70W, it will run any mode that the IC756 ProIII will produce such as SSB, WSPR etc, but my switching FET amplifier is class-D, non-linear, which limits it to non-linear modes such as CW, WSPR and JT-9, the most popular modes on 630m.
A few days ago, VK4YB and I ran our first 630m sked on JT9 as conditions looked favorable. Unfortunately, this was before I had my transverter / antenna switching system completed so I was limited to the barefoot transverter at ~ 1/2W EIRP. Using a transverter to drive an external amplifier means the antenna must be switched between the amplifier output and the transverter input in addition to switching the transverter's output between the antenna and the amplifiers input. I'll post details of my switching system, and inexpensive but power-capable relays, in an upcoming blog as there are probably many 630m operators planning on doing something similar.
Thanks to Roger's huge antenna, his 90W signal was making it through well enough on this end but he was not able to decode anything from me.
1109 -26 0.3 1098 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1111 -28 0.3 1098 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1147 -24 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1149 -27 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1153 -27 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1159 -26 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1209 -26 0.0 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1225 -25 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1227 -26 -0.0 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1229 -24 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1239 -23 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1247 -26 0.0 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1249 -26 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1253 -23 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1255 -28 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1257 -26 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1303 -27 0.2 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1305 -23 -0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1307 -25 -0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1309 -23 -0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1313 -25 0.0 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1319 -27 0.0 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1323 -22 0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1325 -25 -0.1 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1327 -24 0.0 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
1329 -25 0.0 1100 @ VE7SL VK4YB QG62
My location on the 'wrong' side of Mayne Island requires me to fire directly into a very nearby 600' hilltop, directly in Roger's path.
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| I'm at the base of the hill on the far right. The large mountains are on Vancouver Island and then open Pacfic. |
| VE7SL | 0.475633 | -25 | CN88iu | 5 | VK4YB | QG62ku | 11820 | |||
| VE7SL | 0.475633 | -26 | CN88iu | 5 | VK4YB | QG62ku | 11820 | |||
| VE7SL | 0.475632 | -23 | CN88iu | 5 | VK4YB | QG62ku | 11820 | |||
| VE7SL | 0.475632 | -26 | CN88iu | 5 | VK4YB | QG62ku | 11820 | |||
| VE7SL | 0.475632 | -30 | CN88iu | 5 | VK4YB | QG62ku | 11820 | |||
| VE7SL | 0.475634 | -28 | CN88iu | 5 | VK4YB | QG62ku | 11820 | |||
| VE7SL | 0.475634 | -30 | CN88iu | 5 | VK4YB | QG62ku | 11820 | |||
| VE7SL | 0.475634 | -30 | CN88iu | 5 | VK4YB | QG62ku | 11820 | |||
| VE7SL | 0.475633 | -28 | CN88iu | 5 | VK4YB | QG62ku | 11820 | |||
| VE7SL | 0.475633 | -29 | CN88iu | 5 | VK4YB | QG62ku | 11820 | |||
| VE7SL | 0.475633 | -27 | CN88iu | 5 | VK4YB | QG62ku | 11820 | |||
| VE7SL | 0.475632 | -28 | CN88iu | 5 | VK4YB | QG62ku | 11820 | |||
| VE7SL | 0.475630 | -28 | CN88iu | 5 | VK4YB | QG62ku | 11820 | |||
| VE7SL | 0.475629 | -29 | CN88iu | 5 | VK4YB | QG62ku | 11820 | |||
| VE7SL | 0.475629 | -31 | CN88iu | 5 | VK4YB | QG62ku | 11820 | |||
| VE7SL | 0.475629 | -30 | CN88iu | 5 | VK4YB | QG62ku | 11820 |
With the antenna / transverter / amplifier switching unit complete, Roger and I will continue to watch band conditions favorable to the Trans-Pacific path and hopefully exchange signals sometime this fall before the path disappears until next spring. For Roger, near Brisbane, the path peaks for him in the late evening while for me, it means crawling out of bed at 0330 local time to check the prop, hoping to find good signals from down under ... working VK on 630m would be well worth losing a few hours of nightly sleep!
Steve McDonald, VE7SL, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from British Columbia, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].
Weekly Propagation Summary – 2016 Sep 12 16:10 UTC
Here is this week’s space weather and geophysical report, issued 2016 Sep 12 0323 UTC.
Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 05 – 11 September 2016
Solar activity was at very low levels on 05-11 Sep. Region 2591 (N05, L=144, Cro/025 on 11 Sep) produced a B9.6 flare at 10/1920 UTC, the strongest of the period. No Earth-directed CMEs were observed were observed during the period.
No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.
The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at very high levels on 05 Sep and high levels from 06-11 Sep due to CH HSS influence. The largest flux value of the period was 56,842 pfu observed at 05/1815 UTC.
Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet to minor storm levels on 05 Sep due to a period of prolonged southward Bz during the waning phase of a CH HSS. Solar wind speed continued to decline over the period from a high near 600 km/s to 340 km/s by the end of the period. Activity decreased to quiet to active conditions on 06 Sep and to quiet to unsettled conditions on 07 Sep. A final increase to quiet to active conditions was observed on 08 Sep before quiet conditions dominated for the remainder of the period.
Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 12 September – 08 October 2016
Solar activity is expected to be at very low to low levels throughout the forecast period.
No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.
The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at normal to moderate levels on 12-20 Sep and 26-28 Sep. High levels expected on 21-25 Sep, 29 Sep – 01 Oct, and 06-08 Oct. Very high levels are likely between 02-05 Oct. High and very high levels are anticipated to result from recurrent CH HSS events.
Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at quiet to active levels on 12 Sep as a solar sector boundary crossing is anticipated to transition into a weak, negative polarity, CH HSS. As the CH HSS influence wanes, quiet to unsettled levels are likely over 13-14 Sep. Quiet conditions are expected on 15-16 Sep under an ambient solar wind environment. 17-21 Sep will likely to be at quiet to active conditions as a negative polarity CH HSS influences the near-Earth environment. Quiet conditions are again expected from 22-25 Sep. 26-27 Sep are likely to be at unsettled to active conditions from a small, positive polarity, CH HSS. 28-30 Sep are likely to see field active range from unsettled to major storm levels from a strong, positive polarity, CH HSS. As the CH HSS influence wanes, unsettled to minor storm levels are likely on 01 Oct and quiet to active levels are expected from 02-05 Oct. Quiet conditions are expected to return over 06-08 Oct under a nominal solar wind regime.
Don’t forget to visit our live space weather and radio propagation web site, at: http://SunSpotWatch.com/
Live Aurora mapping is at http://aurora.sunspotwatch.com/
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LHS Episode #175: True Lies on VHS
Hurricanes, YOLO, Spanish letters, BSD, rocket science, call books, loggers, Maylasia, cult movies and more--all in this episode of Linux in the Ham Shack!
73 de The LHS Crew
Russ Woodman, K5TUX, co-hosts the Linux in the Ham Shack podcast which is available for download in both MP3 and OGG audio format. Contact him at [email protected].
AmateurLogic 95: What Goes Up
AmateurLogic.TV Episode 95 is now available for download.
It’s out of this world. In this episode D-Star hotspots just got easier to use. Tommy shows us the DVMega Blue Stack. George Interviews Bill Brown, WB8ELK in Huntsville and learns about his Pico Balloon experiments. Emile brings to light a possible Commspiracy.
Details of our 11th Anniversary Icom IC-7300 giveaway and more.
1:23:49
George Thomas, W5JDX, is co-host of AmateurLogic.TV, an original amateur radio video program hosted by George Thomas (W5JDX), Tommy Martin (N5ZNO), Peter Berrett (VK3PB), and Emile Diodene (KE5QKR). Contact him at [email protected].
Slacker SOTA Activation in the Tetons (W7Y/TT-061)
The Grand Teton National Park has plenty of mountains for Summits On The Air (SOTA) activations, so I wanted to activate a few of them as we enjoyed the park. I am still recovering from a fractured ankle, so I was definitely looking for an easy-peasy summit to activate on our trip. It turns out there is a summit right at the top of the Jackson Hole Arial Tram that operates during the summer months (W7Y/TT-061). (This tram serves the ski area during the winter.)
The SOTA database shows this summit as unnamed and refers to it by elevation, 10450. The locals may refer to this as Rendezvous Mountain, not to be confused with Rendezvous Peak (W7Y/TT-035). For SOTA purposes its just “10450”.
Well, this sounds pretty awesome…ride the tram to the top and play ham radio. Now the bad news: the ticket for the tram is $42. It’s an all day pass that gives you access to other lifts and plenty of hiking trails but still it is expensive. OK, slightly better news: if you purchase online you can get the pass for $32. There are senior and other pricing options, so check out the web site for the latest info.
The September weather was overcast and cold at the summit. I opted for a simple VHF activation using my Yaesu FT-1DR and a half-wave vertical antenna. I had my 3-element 2m yagi with me but I didn’t deploy it. I figured that my ability to contact folks on 2m fm would be limited more by who happens to be monitoring…signal strength would not be a major factor.
It was cold at the top and I was glad that I packed my gloves, hat and a decent jacket. I made five contacts by calling on 146.52 MHz.
The tram ride was quite enjoyable with good views of the Jackson Hole area. However, this may go down in history as my most expensive SOTA activation.
73, Bob K0NR
The post Slacker SOTA Activation in the Tetons (W7Y/TT-061) appeared first on The KØNR Radio Site.
Bob Witte, KØNR, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Colorado, USA. Contact him at [email protected].
Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 124
Air Force to ‘bomb the sky’ to improve radio reception
CubeSats could carry massive amounts of ionized gas to the ionosphere to create radio-reflecting plasma.
Prepared Ham
Smaller solar cycles ahead?
Data suggest that Cycle 24, the current solar cycle, will bottom out in 2020.
ARRL
Michigan State Parks on the Air
It looks like the program will get started next year.
KB6NU
Emergency preparedness: How will you communicate?
September is recognized as National Preparedness Month.
Icom America
The woman behind the KM5R repeater
Once upon a time there lived a home-schooled fairy princess named, Melissa, or as she later became known, KM5R.
Weekly North Texas net for YLs
YL International Single Sideband System
The ISSB System operates on 14.332 MHz, 365 days of the year.
YL System
September VHF Contest this weekend
The goal is to contact as many different stations in as many 2 × 1 grid squares as possible on frequencies above 50 MHz.
ARRL
Batteries for portable Amateur Radio use
I’ve used everything from car batteries, Sealed Lead Acid Batteries (SLAB), standard AA’s, Lithium Polymer (LiPo) and Lithium Iron Phosphate Batteries (LiFePo).
M0JCQ’s Ham Blog
Can you ID this mystery digital signal?
I noted beeps at Hz repetition rate, does not appear to be data, it beeps for about a minute then there is a short data burst then beeping again for a minute or two.
The SWLing Post
Video
VHF Transmitter key-up analysis
Based on what I learned about this radio, I won’t be operating it at the high power level due to the frequency drift.
W2AEW
Random wire portable antenna back yard test
I decided to try a random wire in the back yard with QRP power and portable set up for some fun and to see how it would work for me.
RadioHamGuy
Jogging while listening to the Space Station
This is my reception of Astronaut Jeff Williams talking with summer camp students at the Kopernik Observatory and Science Center.
Space Comms
Lightning strikes on the Maestro/Flex 6300
Perhaps it’s time to disconnect the antennas and call it a day.
The Radio Hobbyist
Amateur Radio Weekly is curated by Cale Mooth K4HCK. Sign up free to receive ham radio's most relevant news, projects, technology and events by e-mail each week at http://www.hamweekly.com.
AREDN Mesh Weather Camera
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| PTZ HD weather cam on the mesh! |
Last week Randy (KD9FGO) and I mounted a pan-tilt-zoom (ptz) camera up on a grain elevator. At 250 feet, the view is great. The purpose of the camera is to be able to watch the weather roll into the area. We do send out weather spottters occasionally, but there are few locations where you get such a great view as from 250 feet above the surrounding terrain! We used a Sunba 1080p HD IP camera, sold for $330 on Amazon. A single shielded CAT5 line runs from the camera to a Power Over Ethernet+ (POE+) injector, and then on to an ethernet switch where the AREDN mesh 5GHz node is connected.
We’ve added another AREDN node at the fire station (EOC) so that the camera can be viewed from there. And of course, it can be viewed from other nodes on the mesh. Right now, that means at the home of another ham and my shack as well. (Our other mesh sites are un-manned repeater sites.)
The picture above was taken with a cell phone, taking a picture of a laptop at the EOC. The actual picture quality is HD – it is absolutely amazing.
The next step is to add another ptz camera 5 miles north of town at another grain elevator. This site has a better view to the north and north west, while the first site has a great view from south to north west. We are also planning to showcase this solution to a couple of the other area emergency managers. Now that we have a solid mesh backbone established, adding additional sites is as easy as adding a $100 mesh node and a $330 camera.
Michael Brown, KG9DW, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Illinois, USA. Contact him at [email protected].
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